Battle of Chambersburg Pike

The Battle of Chambersburg Pike was a cavalry clash that occurred shortly before the main phase of the Battle of Gettysburg. John Buford's Union cavalry delayed Henry Heth's division long enough for the Union Army of the Potomac to arrive in Gettysburg nearby.

Background
Confederate general Henry Heth marched up the Chambersburg Pike on the town of Gettysburg, and expecting to face a force of Union militiamen, sent the Fredericksburg Artillery to bombard the Union lines. When the Union troops stood their ground, he sent James Archer and Joseph Davis to "feel out" the Union line. What he had expected to be militiamen were really John Buford's cavalry.

Battle
Buford had only four regiments of cavalrymen at his disposal, while the Confederate army was constantly receiving reinforcements from the Chambersburg Pike. The solution to this problem was a defensive battle in which he would concentrate fire on individual militia regiments as Heth sent them forwards piecemeal. Although Buford suffered extremely heavy losses and was by all means the loser of the battle, the Confederate army did not reach the other end of the pike within 20 moves of their army and the Union army sent reinforcements to Gettysburg.